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Assessment Strategies for Language-Diverse and International Students

                   Contributed By: Natalie Swinford and Stacy Wittstock

UC Davis is a linguistically diverse campus, with much of its student population being bi or multilingual.
  • According to UC Davis Admissions, of the undergraduate students admitted in 2016-2017, about 41% spoke only English at home, 27% spoke English and another language, and 33% spoke only another language at home.
  • Additionally, in the 2017-2018 academic year, about 16% of the undergraduate degree-seeking population  at UC Davis were international visa-holders (Budget and Institutional Analysis, 2017), with the university accepting over 60% of its international applicants for 2017-2018 (UC Institutional Research and Academic Planning, 2017).

Who are Language-Diverse Students?
  • International visa-holders
  • Immigrant students
  • Generation 1.5
    • Students who either immigrated here when they were very young, or students whose parents are first generation immigrants
    • Grew up within the American school system, but likely spoke a language or languages other than English at home
  • Students from various cultural communities who may speak in non-dominant dialects at home (e.g., African American Vernacular English, Appalachian English, etc.)

Challenges Language-Diverse Students Face
  • May have varying levels of background or experience training in grammar, style, and/or other conventions for formal academic writing in English (e.g., citation practices, essay forms, etc.)
  • May have varying levels of proficiency in different modalities of English (i.e., speaking, listening, writing, or reading) (Menken, 2013)
  • May have limited or interrupted literacy education in their home language (due to refugee status, limited access to education, etc.) (Menken, 2013)
  • May have limited background knowledge on US culture or history
  • May display a “written accent” or other signs of ESL writing (Cox, 2011; Matsuda, 2012)

Teaching and Assessment Strategies
  • Take some time to understand your students’ backgrounds, and the knowledge, experiences, and skills they bring to your classroom
  • Provide regular opportunities for students to interact with their peers and with you
  • Build in opportunities for student self-reflection and formative assessment
  • Provide numerous opportunities for students to ask questions
  • Intervene when you notice a student is struggling
  • Provide frequent, timely feedback on writing and other work in class
  • Set expectations for writing early, and align those expectations with assignment rubrics, which in turn should be aligned with course objectives
  • Expect and respect that multilingual students will write with “written accents”
    • It is nearly impossible for students for whom English is not their first language to write like native English speakers do, no matter how fluent they are (Cox, 2011; Matsuda, 2012). This is not to say that students can never get to that point--just that they should not be expected to.  
  • Be strategic in your feedback, and focus on what relates most closely to your course objectives
    • Our instinct is often to correct errors, but much of the literature on written corrective feedback is inconclusive at best (Ferris, 2004).

Something to think about…
“As teachers, we cannot make students learn; we can only create a condition in which learning can happen. Still, the principle of instructional alignment reminds us not to punish students for what teachers do not teach or for what cannot be learned even with the best intentions of both teachers and students. In other words, the outcomes to be assessed must be achievable with instruction and students’ good-faith efforts” (Matsuda, 2012, p. 144).

Campus and Online Resources

References
Cox, M. (2011). WAC: Closing doors or opening doors for second language writers. Across the Disciplines, 8(4).
Ferris, D. R. (2004). The “grammar correction” debate in L2 writing: Where are we, and where do we go from here?(and what do we do in the meantime…?). Journal of second language writing, 13(1), 49-62.
Matsuda, P. K. (2012). Let’s face it: Language issues and the writing program administrator. WPA: Writing Program Administration, 36(1), 141-163.

Menken, K. (2013). Emergent bilingual students in secondary school: Along the academic language and literacy continuum. Language Teaching, 46(4), 438-476.


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